Just Like Kagome
by timeless-x
Summary: Inuyasha meets Kagome, a girl who is determined to do at least one good deed a day before her time runs out. It isn't long before he realizes that she actually does not have much time left and has been hiding a past that is not as kind as she is...
1. The Unfeeling

**Author's Notes:** Hey guys! I know I haven't updated _Heart, Mind, and Soul_ but I will be doing that soon! It's just that I was recently inspired to write this story. My friend advised that I visit a certain website called "Gives Me Hope". The site is composed of different happenings in random people's lives that have given them hope. It ranges from random acts of kindness (like featured in this story) to true love and inspiring feats. The website not only gave me hope, but it inspired me to be a better person and thus inspired me to write this story. I think the character I developed for Kagome is very fitting. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I will enjoy writing it.

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters.

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**Just Like Kagome**

Part I – The Unfeeling

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You know that feeling you get when someone does something good for you? It's just so out of the blue; you never see it coming. We all think about how dangerous it is to be taking to strangers, but we forget how kind they can actually be. They can easily put smiles on your face, leave you with a light heart, and even make you forget the bitterness that you were carrying before.

Kagome was just the person.

I met her in high school, during my junior year. She had no friends, which was something that surprised me. She smiled at everyone in the hallway, helped the new kids who seemed to have lost their way, held the doors for the janitors and teachers, and even went as far as to help the disabled kids up the stairs whenever they needed it. But for some reason, she helped them as strangers, and she'd stay a stranger. Kagome never felt the need to befriend anybody, because for her, just helping them in their time of need was enough. They did not need to know her name, they did not need to pay her back.

So, why, of all people, did she choose me to be the exception? Kagome came up to me one day, as the other kids were making fun of my silver hair and golden eyes, calling me a "half-breed", just like they always did. It was nothing new; I was already used to it. But Kagome came up to me that day, lunch tray and everything, and sat down at my table.

"Hi, Inuyasha." She was my first real friend. And she brought others along with her. After Kagome, making friends just seemed so natural. However, she never did the same. Whenever I called her out for a birthday party or a gathering, she'd decline politely as always. "Sorry, but I have to study tonight." Or she would say, "Mama needs me tonight. She needs to work overtime and I need to take care of Souta." It was something I could not control, and therefore I didn't try to.

But her excuses became too much for me, and I began to think that she was growing tired of being around the half-human-half-dog. I went over to her house one night, only to find that she was home alone. "Kagome, why did you lie to me?" She never answered my question, but at the same time, I don't think I wanted her to. However, she made it completely clear that she wanted to be friends. She apologized and that was it, and I let it go. She said she would make it up to me by spending some time together. But the next day, she said that her mother needed her to buy groceries, so I would have to go with her if I wanted to spend time with her.

Of course, I could never say no to Kagome. She seemed to have some sort of power over me.

"Inuyasha, why are you so grumpy all the time?" Her question was not offensive, but asked merely out of curiosity. "You hardly ever smile."

"Gee, maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm being called a 'half-breed' every day."

"Sarcasm gets you nowhere, either."

"Feh, whatever." But instead of losing her temper with me, like everyone else did, she just shrugged it off and snaked her arm around mine. It was the first time that I felt it: the leaping of my heart into my throat. It was the first time I became aware of my feelings towards Kagome, my feelings that I promised myself I would never speak of.

As we were paying for those groceries, she seemed distant, as though she weren't paying attention to her own life. "Kagome?" She turned around, only to glance at a couple whispering loudly to each other. It was obvious they were fighting. They could not have been much older than we were, but judging by the rings on their fingers, they were married.

"Shut _up_, Miroku! Do you know how embarrassing this is?!"

"Sango, it's okay. We'll just ask them to put the groceries back―"

"And let them know we're too _broke_ to buy a couple of damn tomatoes and a box of cereal?!" The woman was flushing with embarrassment, and I mentally scolded them for being stupid enough to not know how much they had in their pockets before coming to purchase something. Truly, the embarrassment was their fault.

The man ignored his wife and smiled at the cashier, who was waiting impatiently for the rendered amount of money. "I'm sorry, miss. But it appears that we don't―"

"I'll pay for them." Kagome's soft voice surprised me again. She pulled out her wallet and stuffed a bill into the cashier's waiting hands. "Let them have the change, too, please." Then, she walked back towards our lane, grabbed our bags, and pulled me behind her as we left the building.

"What did you go and do that for?" I asked her when we were in my car, and I was driving her home.

Again, she did not answer me.

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**END PART I**


	2. The Believer

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters.

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**Just Like Kagome**

Part II – The Believer

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"You _do_ know that I don't count our visit to the grocery store as spending time together, right?" I told Kagome at lunch, expecting her to be pensive about it and decide that maybe she should be spending time with her friend instead of running errands that a sixteen year old teenager shouldn't be doing. Instead of looking pensive though, she immediately looked up at me and said:

"Okay. Let's go out for dinner." It was just so impossible to say no to her, and besides, it was kind of my suggestion anyway―Kagome just had to take it a step further. And so we went, because I was just so crazy about her that I'd do just about anything to be around her. We did not go to a fancy restaurant, as much as I would have liked, because she said she wanted to be comfortable and she couldn't do that at a fancy restaurant.

And so we went to this Italian place just down the street, that wasn't too extravagant but wasn't considered fast food either. We slid into our seats and she ordered something for the both of us. I thought that maybe Kagome had come here before, but when I asked, she merely just shrugged my question off and continued to stare out the window that was behind me. "You know, Inuyasha, you're awfully spontaneous." Her comment caught me off guard, because I had always thought that about her. "One minute you're grumpy and moody, and the next you look so serene and gentle. Which one are you, really?"

"Feh." I hoped she didn't notice the blush that crept across my cheeks.

"Maybe a nice combination of both? It keeps things interesting." But for me, Kagome was interesting. She always smiled, regardless of what happened. Her daily acts of kindness never failed, and she never missed a day. Kagome said that she had dedicated her life to those people in need, that she would help them no matter what, that it was destined to happen this way. I did not understand at the time, but I had accepted it anyway. Kagome never lost her temper, never raised her voice, and it just seemed like there was nothing in the world that could break her down.

I wanted to keep it that way.

We ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, unlike the ones I shared with my older half-brother. Our silences were always awkward.

It was getting late, so I told her that I would have to bring her home soon. But she wasn't listening to me. Instead, she was listening to one of her destined persons in need. There was a dark-haired girl sitting in the corner of the restaurant by herself, sobbing into her hands. She had ordered dinner for two, but she was alone. I recognized her from school, but only because she bore an uncanny resemblance to my Kagome.

Speaking of Kagome, she had now ditched me to move across the restaurant. "Kikyou," again her voice was gentle, it was always gentle. "Why are you alone?" When Kikyou looked up, a look of confusion crossed her features. She obviously did not know the girl standing before her, but decided not to be rude I guess.

"The jerk stood me up. Can you believe him? The jerk stood _me_ up." It was quiet in the restaurant for a moment, as there were only the three of us there, along with the two hard-at-work employees standing behind the counter. Kagome smiled, touched her hand and told her that it will be okay―that Kikyou didn't need him if he didn't see her for how important she really was. Kikyou did not say anything but maybe that's because Kagome never gave her a chance to. My heroine stood up and left the table, beckoning me to leave the restaurant with her. However, it was not before she slipped the waiter the money for Kikyou's dinner bill that she glided out the door.

Months later, whenever I talk to Kikyou, she claims that Kagome saved her life that night―in ways nobody will ever understand.

But I do. Now, I always know. Kagome has saved many lives, not only out of the goodness of her heart, but because she was searching for redemption. Redemption not for herself, because there is no way Kagome could have done anything terrible in her life at all. She was searching for redemption in the place of someone else.

Someone else who had made an attempt to darken my Kagome's life. But he did not succeed.

I wonder if that bothered him.

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**END PART II**


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